KCON LA 2025 Recap: All of the Stages, Booths, Activities, and More!

I say it every summer, but KCON LA is my favorite event of the year. This is my third year attending and covering KCON LA, and as usual, it did not disappoint. KCON LA 2025 took place from August 1-3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center and Crypto.com Arena. 125,000 attendees enjoyed the event across the three days, with 107 companies, 358 booths and 37 acts. This year also marked the first time ever the event was livestreamed in partnership with Amazon Music on Prime Video and Twitch. 

KCON LA is truly a customizable experience, with every fan in attendance getting to choose their own adventure when deciding how they would like to spend their time. The convention portion and the concert are two separate events, which can be attended back to back or completely independently from one another. Every booth, stage, activity, and performance is completely optional, which means that no two experiences at KCON are alike. If you want to find out how I spent my time at KCON LA 2025, as well as some of my recommendations for future convention-goers, check out my recap here!

Check out my interview with 82Major at KCON LA 2025 here!

The Convention

The convention portion of KCON LA 2025 took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, and included five stages with artists appearing throughout each day, as well as countless booths where fans can take part in activities, get freebies, and more. 

I started my first day of KCON LA 2025 with an event I had never attended before - a Meet and Greet. The Meet and Greet stage is where fans have a chance to get up close and personal with their favorite idols. The artists play games and give mini-performances, and it all ends with a hi-wave and send-off. This year there were two tiers for the Meet and Greets, one which included the hi-wave with the artist, and one which just included the send-off.

My one criticism is that many of those who purchased the send-off-only ticket didn't actually get to participate in the send-off, since the artists only interacted with the people in the front at the barricades, and not the hundreds of people behind them. I think there could have been a better system in place to ensure more fans get to meet the artists, or it could have been advertised differently and more accurately.

Regardless of this, I had fun at the ZeroBaseOne Meet and Greet on Friday morning. The members gave tons of fan service, interacting with Zeroses and playing games in which some lucky fans won prizes. I also participated in the hi-wave which felt way less rushed than what I've seen in previous years, so kudos to KCON for that.

Throughout all three days of KCON LA 2025, I spent a lot of time at the Artist Stage - a smaller stage within the convention where artists perform mini-concerts for their fans. Each artist performs about five songs, and does some games and activities with the fans, including Call Me By My Name, where the artists read out the names of fans who commented in a special section of the MNET PLUS app.

Throughout my time at KCON LA 2025, I checked out Artist Stage performances from Lee Youngji, ZeroBaseOne, Hwasa, Kep1er, JO1, Roy Kim, and P1Harmony. This is one of my favorite parts of KCON every year, because it feels like a small intimate concert where you have a chance to see the artists closer than you would at the main M Countdown stage.

There is also a smaller stage within the main convention hall called the X Stage, where many up-and-coming artists performed. On that stage, I got to see Newbeat and 82Major perform a few songs each. The Busking Stage and Dance Stage were two other smaller performance stages within the convention, which I got to see in passing but didn't have time to check out any full activities there.

Speaking of the Busking Stage, which is located outside, there is a whole section of the convention in an outside area, which includes more booths and places to buy official K-Pop albums, photocards, and merchandise. This area seems a bit more hidden than it was in previous years, and I wouldn't have even known it existed if my friends didn't find it and bring me over. While the weather in LA is hot, it was still nice to get some fresh air while still getting to take part in KCON festivities. 

One of the indoor booths I was the most excited to visit was the BOYS II PLANET booth. As an avid survival show watcher who is keeping close tabs on the latest season of BOYS PLANET, I was happy to join the virtual queue, prove that I have been voting, and get my spot in the booth. Fans got free stamp cards which featured a BOYS PLANET trainee on each of them - and yes people were trading! I got to make a name tag that looked just like the ones on the show, and you were able to choose if you wanted blue for K Group or red for C Group. There was a photobooth area where you could take photos with your favorite trainee. When you post the photo on Instagram with specific hashtags, you received a third stamp, which got you a prize - a keyring featuring one of the BOYS II PLANET trainees. This was such a fun little experience for lovers of the show!

I also stopped by the McDonald's booth to playing a quick game where you had to assemble a giant Snack Wrap. I didn't win but still got my hands on a free real snack wrap, plus a bracelet and a $5 McDonald's gift card.

While there seemed to be fewer booths inside the convention this year compared to last year, I managed to get more freebies at the PRODUCE 101 JAPAN SHINSEKAI booth as well as the KPOP BESTIE booth, who was promoting the new group, NouerA. 

The Concert

The concert portion of KCON LA is a whole seperate event from the convention, taking part on the M Countdown Stage at Crypto.com Arena, located right next door to the Convention Center. I attended all three days of the concert this year, and had an incredible time. As someone who is a super fan of many K-Pop artists, the KCON LA lineup never disappoints, as there are always plenty of artists who I know and love.

On Day One, NCT 127 returned for the second consecutive year at KCON LA 2025, and I was so excited to get to see them take the stage this year, since I missed the day of their performance last year. I've seen this group perform many times and they always bring the energy. NCT 127 also were one of the artists participating in this year's Dream Stage - a KCON tradition which gives fans a chance to audition to perform on stage with their favorite artists. 

There were also special stages performed by members of NCT 127, including Mark who performed some of his solo music, as well as a duo performance with Haechan.

Another highlight of the lineup for me was ZeroBaseOne, an artist who has been performing at KCON LA every year since their debut in 2023. Several members of the group also served as special MCs for KCON LA this year, and they performed on the M Countdown Stage on both Friday and Sunday. 

P1Harmony is another group who returned to KCON LA for their second year in a row, and I always love to see what they do. They have been steadily growing throughout their careers and seeing them perform is always a highlight.

The Day One lineup also included Baby DONT Cry, IS:SUE, IVE, Lee Youngji, and NOWZ.

On Day Two, the main headliner was MONSTA X, who has finally returned as a full group for the first time since most of their members completed their mandatory military service. Unfortunately, I.M. was not in attendance at KCON LA 2025 due to an injury, so despite the members finally reuniting, they were not able to perform as a full group. However, the remaining members in attendance did not disappoint, bringing the signature MONSTA X energy that fans know and love.

In addition to their performance as a group, as well as the Dream Stage performance, two MONSTA X members - Shownu and Hyungwon - performed a unit stage to kick off the show that night. The two members performed previously at KCON LA in 2023.

aespa also took the stage for their first-ever KCON LA appearance, performance iconic hits like "Whiplash," "Supernova," and their latest release, "Dirty Work." Jackson Wang gave a powerful performance of "GBAD" and "BUCK." The Day Two lineup also included Choi Hojong, IDID, Izna, JO1,  NMIXX, Roy Kim, and Yuqi.

While ZeroBaseOne wasn't on the official lineup this day, two members performed collaboration stages - Zhang Hao with Yuqi and Kim Tae Rae with Roy Kim. These special performances were a highlight for every Zerose in the audience.

For the last and final day, the headliner was HxW - also known as Seventeen members Hoshi and Woozi. They were the Dream Stage participants on Day Three, and they performed their unit releases, including "96ers" and "Stupid Idiot."

KEY from SHINee also took the stage, where he announced he will soon be going on tour in America. RIIZE returned to KCON LA for the first time since their pre-debut stage in 2023. ZeroBaseOne was back also to give the first live performance of their new song, "Slam Dunk." 

The Day Three lineup also included AllDay Project, Cravity, Hwasa, i-dle, Kep1er, and Meovv.